Project report for Automatic Chikki Plant

Chikki is a traditional Indian sweet generally made from groundnuts (peanuts) and jiggery. Chikki is a sweet product prepared by mixing various types of nuts and other ingredients either with jaggery or sugar. These ingredients are mixed with thick syrup made of jaggery or sugar. The mixture is cooled and then smaller pieces are made and packed. There are many ingredients which are used like groundnut or cashewnut kernels, sesame seeds, pieces of dried coconut, dry-fruits and so on. Chikki is popular all over the country amongst all age groups but school going children and rural areas are the main targets. This product can be manufactured anywhere on the country. It can be made by using costly ingredients like dry fruits but market for such costly chikkies is limited and demand is only during winter season. But chikkies made fromgroundnut kernels, dry coconut and sesame seeds have vast market round the year. This note deals with such low cost high volume products.

The processof chikki making is very simple. Groundnut kernels are roasted to remove the outer red skin and they are split in the splitting machine. In case of sesame seeds or dry coconut they are roasted and small pieces of coconut are made manually. Simultaneously, jaggery is boiled in water till thick syrup is formed and then filtered to remove unwanted particles. This hot syrup is mixed with groundnut splits or roasted sesame seeds or pieces of roasted coconut and then this mixture is poured in trays for drying. After about couple of hours, small square sized pieces are cut and individual piece is packed in plastic wrappers.

The functional food industry in India is strong and is a growing force in the international health foods market. The health and wellness foods market is currently estimated to be in the vicinity of INR 116.78 billion and was of INR 547.43 – 729.90 Crores by the year 2019. According to market statistics, the global functional food and nutraceuticals market is increasing with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.4% that is outpacing the traditional processed food market and is expected to reach INR 13.141 Crores in 2026.

Chikkies are not much popular in urban areas and are eaten in a very small quantity that too during winter season. But they are very popular in semi-urban and rural areas especially amongst school going children. Low priced chikkies packed individually in plastic sheets have large market. Apart from sale through retailers located near the schools, bus stands, weekly markets, cinema halls, taxi stands, rural fairs etc. are the places where they are sold briskly.
Thus, the market is scattered.

At small scale , you can easily start this business at domestic level. A cost of 35,000 to 40,000 would be apt for setting up this business at small scale. To manufacture chikki at large scale you need to install a plant. Around 4 to 5 lakhs is spent on establishing a plant. If you operate this business at domestic level then you can earn up to 15,000 to 20,000 per month. On the other hand if you set up a plant and operate this business at large scale then you can earn profit up to Ra 1 lakh per month. The amount of profit depends on the quality of your product. The better the quality, more the profits.